Rainfall
by painted.inkblot
Summary: He was all she had ever hoped for, maybe even more. But for now, they had be apart. RainwhiskerSwallowtail Oneshot.


**A/N: This is my first oneshot, so I'd like it if experienced oneshot-writers would review and give me constructive criticism.**

Disclaimer: If Flamespirit-eth owned Warriors, then the books wouldn't be half as good, so don't think she's the owner.

**Rainfall**

Rainwhisker x Swallowtail

Following his clan, Rainpaw entered Fourtrees, and gazed up at the full moon in the night sky. The full moon. The only time the four clans could meet in peace.

"Hi, I'm Swallowpaw!" A she-cat carrying the scent of RiverClan interrupted Rainpaw's thoughts. He spun around, finding himself face to face with a rather pretty dark tabby.

"Umm…I'm Rainpaw. I'm from ThunderClan." He shifted under her look. He had always been rather shy and quiet, and it was with some trepidation that he had even stepped into the clearing at Fourtrees.

"Is this your first gathering?"

Rainpaw just barely remembered to say "yes" and didn't even hear Swallowpaw answer "It's mine, to," for he had just seen her eyes. The dark gray apprentice felt he could lose himself in the warm amber pools forever, and he wouldn't mind.

"What are you doing?" Swallowpaw waved a paw in front of Rainpaw's face, which startled him so much her came to with a jolt and slipped onto the ground with a thump, dust flying around him. Cats nearby heard the sound and stared at him.

Disliking the attention, an embarrassed Rainpaw slunk into the shadows made by the trees surrounding the clearing, Swallowpaw following.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

"Because you're nice." Swallowpaw stated simply.

"I am?" Swallowpaw stared strangely at Rainpaw. "Uh, I guess I am," he said.

"Do you want to be friends?" Swallowpaw asked, then smiled.

Rainpaw was shocked. No one had ever wanted to be friends with him. Mostly, he was just ignored, not that he objected. The only one Rainpaw could really confide in was his brother, Sootpaw, his sister being too loud, and the opposite of him. "N-." the apprentice started to say, then remembered her amber eyes. He would be friends with her, if only for her amber eyes, and maybe something more…

The sky was a dull gray, just like the ground on which Rainwhisker and the other clan cats walked on. For many sunrises now the cats had traveled, now in the mountains. Rainwhisker could barely think to himself why this had happened; the destruction and leaving of his home was too painful to think about. If only the twolegs hadn't interfered…if only…

Suddenly the warrior saw a flash of dark tabby fur. It could have been any clan cat, but Rainwhisker knew it wasn't. The faint ever there twitching of the tail tip and the lingering RiverClan smell, or what was left of it, told Rainwhisker it was any cat, but Swallowtail.

Rainwhisker opened his mouth to call to her, when she turned around and saw him, her beautiful eyes lighting up. She ran over to him, bumping and pushing into other cats along the way, who hissed at her, but she didn't care.

"Rainwhisker!" she purred, licking him on the cheek. The dark gray tom's face burned, even though no one was watching them. He purred in happiness and said, "Even in the worst situations, there are blessings."

Swallowtail mrrowwed in laughter, and brushing some dust off of Rainwhisker's back with a sweep of her tail, responded, "The wise old warrior today, aren't you?"

The "wise old warrior" grinned. "You may call me a wise old warrior, but I know to you I will always be your sweet Rainwhisker."

Swallowtail laughed again. "True." The two cats walked next to each other, rubbing up against each other in content.

"Smokepaw!" A ShadowClan queen suddenly yelled. Rainwhisker and Swallowtail started at the yowl.

"What just happened?" said Rainwhisker frantically, swallowing.

"I-I don't know," Swallowtail said worriedly. She walked closer to the edge and looked down. "Oh…" the RiverClan tabby caught her breath.

"What is it?"

Swallowtail shut her eyes and breathed deeply. "That poor apprentice…" she whispered.

"What? What is it?!" Rainwhisker asked desperately.

"Th-the ShadowClan apprentice, he-he fell over the edge and down…down…"

Rainwhisker's eyes grew wide. "Great-great StarClan!" he managed to choke out. "What-what if that had been us? Oh Swallowtail, if that had been you, I-I wouldn't have been able to bear it!"

"I know," said Swallowtail gravely, her eyes growing watery. "I know."

For the remainder of the journey, the two cats, ThunderClan and RiverClan, stayed inseperable.

Swallowtail sat down, licking her paws. Up ahead, she could scent the smell of ThunderClan. Her instincts proved right, and ThunderClan cats came into the clump of trees. Rainwhisker bounded up past all of them and right to her.

"Hi, Swallowtail! How's the prey running?" The dark RiverClan tabby was about to jump up and greet him with a purr, but then she remembered Leopardstar was sitting just a couple of tail-lengths away. Swallowtail looked down at her paws.

"Fine," she murmured. Rainwhisker, undaunted, bent down to lick her ears, then remembering, jerked his head back and licked his own paw instead. "Sorry," he muttered. "I keep forgetting things are different now."

They sat looking at one another awkwardly for a few seconds. When Leopardstar padded away, Swallowtail motioned to Rainwhisker with her tail, and then went to a quiet corner covered with shadows, reminiscent of when they first met.

"I-I'm sorry, Rainwhisker," she started, then looked away.

Rainwhisker frowned. "What is it?" he meowed.

Swallowtail sighed, then lay down and stared at the long clouds and orangey-pink and purple sky, trying to look at anything but the cat facing her. "Y-you know Leopardstar," she said. "With a leader like her, we can't have a forbidden love! What would happen if we had kits? Would it end up like Silverstream? Or maybe something worse?"

Rainwhisker opened his mouth, then Swallowtail gave him a swift lick on the cheek to reassure him. She looked up at StarClan, took a deep breath, then said quietly, "I-I love you Rainwhisker-."

Rainwhisker brightened up, but Swallowtail hushed him with a flick of her tail as she continued. "I love you Rainwhisker, I really do, but-." she looked down.

"But what?" Rainwhisker prompted.

Swallowtail looked up, an expression of sorrow on her face. "I love you, but I think we should wait."

"Wait?!" Rainwhisker protested. "But, but Swallowtail-."

Swallowtail put her tail on his mouth. "I'm sorry, Rainwhisker," she whispered, walking away to listen to the leaders.

Swallowtail jumped off the tree trunk, anxiously holding up her nose to smell if ThunderClan were there yet.

They were. But she didn't just want to know if they were there. There was one she needed to see.

A wind rushed past, messing up her fur. But the RiverClan warrior had barely noticed it. All she thought was that the whistling of the wind passing had formed a name.

Rainwhisker…

Swallowtail hadn't spoke to him, and had tried not to even look at him ever since she had told him, moons ago, they had to wait. But so much had changed since then. A few sunrises ago, her sight had started failing, and she had become an elder earlier than her time. There was also the fact that, though Swallowtail knew a love like theirs wouldn't end well, she just couldn't bear it anymore. She wanted to talk to him, lick him, rub up against him, and purr in satisfaction.

Backing up onto a slope, the she-cat skimmed over every head with the little sight she had left. None had ThunderClan scent and blue eyes. None had a smoky gray pelt.

Running down the slope, Swallowtail went to the nearest ThunderClan cat, the apprentice Birchpaw.

"Where's Rainwhisker?" she asked.

Birchpaw gave her a sad look, then looked down at his paws. "You'll see," he murmured.

Silence fell over the cats suddenly as the leaders began to speak. Blackstar went first, then Onestar, then Swallowtail's own leader Leopardstar, who all spoke of normal happenings: new apprentices, warriors, and the like.

Then it was Firestar's turn. "Birchpaw has become a warrior, and taken on the name of Birchfall." He smiled.

Heads turned to look at Birchfall, who smiled proudly. Swallowtail purred her congratulations.

Then the ThunderClan leader's face darkened. "You all know of the fierce storm a couple sunrises ago," he began. The cats meowed a yes, but it was also in confusion. Swallowtail was confused too. What did the storm have to do with anything? Yet, a strange feeling began to creep up her.

Firestar sighed. "Well," he continued, "the strom caused a tree to fall over."

Swallowtail was still paying attention, but she didn't see the point of why Firestar was telling them this.

"Unfortunately, one of our warriors was in the same area as the tree. Birchfall tried to save him, but the tree fell on Rainwhisker, causing his death."

No.

"We all feel for you loss, Firestar," Onestar mewed.

_No._

Why…why? Why Rainwhisker? Swallowtail thought guiltily of some of her last words to Rainwhisker: …but I think we should wait.

_I was so stupid_ she thought. _If only…if only I had known…_

One tear dripped onto the ground from her eye, darkening the dust.

_He was all I had ever hoped for…_Another tear fell, just like the rain _he_ had been named after. _…maybe even more…_

Wiping a paw on her eyes to dry them, Swallowtail thought, _For now we'll have to be apart…but…but one day, we will be together again._

Her eyes still feeling watery, Swallowtail padded over to the edge of the crowd of cats.

_Rainwhisker, one day we _will_ be together again._

**A/N: My eyes were feeling watery at the end just typing that. If any of you are wondering why I gave Swallowtail failing sight, it was because when I saw she was an elder in The Sight, I was like, "What the hell? She's wayyy to young to be an elder already!" Yeah. So, good, bad? Experienced oneshot-writers, please give me constructive criticism, and to the rest of you, R&R!**


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